Projekt Underground
Marketing, minimal house reinvent the EDM monthly
- 02.28.08Now the new night is ready to launch a barrage of what promoters call "avant" house music on the ears of the local dance scene beginning Friday, Feb. 29. Highlighting the clean, angular sounds of minimal and techno, Projekt aims to give audiences a regular mix of beats that may otherwise only get play in the occasional or one-off scenario.
"The music platform will be one that features a sound not caught up in the past," Valerine said. "It is completely innovative and envelope-pushing." The vision for Projekt came from Milwaukee EDM shakers Justin Grall (Screendoor), Nate York (Sir Fice), Jessica Fenner (Fortune) and Valerine, all of whom play a role in the Milwaukee Electronic Music Organization (MEMO). They developed the concept more than a year ago, when they say it became apparent that Milwaukee's EDM community was asking for something different. The conventional, underground house nights were slowly losing luster, and the scene was ready for a fresh sound and vibe. Valerine said that part of the freshness would come from the team's marketing approach. Six weeks ago, he and his team of promoters posted the event's logo on local nightlife message boards along with the tag, "Milwaukee, You Have Been Waiting." The team also included a link to Projekt's MySpace page, which was filled with ambiguous references teasing the night. A new image or teaser was added each day leading up to the night's formal announcement on Feb. 4, stirring confusion and curiosity among the community.
Some didn't understand the motives behind their mission, Valerine said. "I'll admit, the sneaky pre-promo gimmick we did in the beginning did ruffle a few feathers at first … but everyone turned around and found it to be in good fun," he added.
Team Projekt hopes its innovative marketing and sound design will bring a recharged energy to the city's underground dance scene. "We wanted to provide Milwaukee with complete freshness—new venue, new music, and a new way of promoting an event, from creative promo ideas to our design work," Valerine said.
Projekt's extended selling point is its venue, Six Degrees (518 N. Water Street), a slick, hybrid bar-lounge that has flourished in the former desert nightlife corridor that connects Downtown to the Third Ward. Since its May 2007 opening, Six Degrees has helped to revive an area of the city that looked as if it may never shake its social jinx.
"We wanted something that captured the newer, sexy technoesque atmosphere you see minimal captured in all over Europe, but also somewhere us dirty heads can still call home," Valerine said. "The location was key … the biggest reason for choosing it yet was that it's brand-spankin' new to our underground dance scene."
Projekt debuts on Friday, Feb. 29, at Six Degrees, 518 N. Water St. Minimal headliner Kyle Geiger (Drumcode), named DJ Mag's "Breakthrough DJ of 2008," brings a dark, techno pulse. Locals Screendoor and Obed Medina complement Geiger's head-on sound. No cover charge. Music 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
Derek Plaslaiko's Edgy Techno
Last month's inaugural Projekt event proved that Milwaukee's underground EDM set is hungry for more than the conventional flair of house and hip-hop. As a DJ, Plaslaiko defies convention. In 2003, he helped form the original team of DJs at Detroit's Untitled parties, along with Tadd Mullinix, Matthew Dear and Mike Servito. Currently, he maintains a residency at the Bunker at New York City's Subtonic, as well as a spot at the touted Wolf Lamb monthly parties.
While Plaslaiko has more recently garnered a following with hipster sets, he continues to remain true to the raw, techno vibe that shaped his status from the start.
Techno-tronics: Maetrik makes his Milwaukee mark
- 08.27.08
Cuban producer Maetrik will be passing around plenty of "Space Chronic" this coming weekend.
The latest EP on Claude VonStroke's new Mothership Music label has the backing of one of the Bay area's most exciting techno and tech-house producers. Maetrik's Aug. 22 Space Chronicrecord release party at San Francisco's seminal party palace, The Endup, solidified his dark, seductive sound as a primal force on one of electronic music's hottest scenes.
Now a resident of Dallas, Texas, Maetrik's rise within dance music's underground dates back to 1993, when music musings on a party of technic 1200s soon gave way to deeper experimentation on cheap synthesizers and drum machines. In melding influences of techno and electro, Maetrik soon emerged as a live PA master, extending his creative reach beyond straight track selection.
In producing under the monikers of Triebstoff, Morris Audio, Tic Tac Toe and Big Chief, Maetrik has managed to give techno a modern edge without losing dance floor credibility. The primal energy backed by his live PA sets is an innovative force on what can easily become a stagnant music scene.
This weekend's Aug. 29 show is part of the monthly Projekt showcase at Six Degrees (518 N. Water St.). Since its inception in February 2008, Projekt has grown to become one of the successful and musically diverse electronic music nights in Milwaukee. Event organizers
Jessica Fenner (Fortune), Justin Grall (Screendoor), Brad Valerine (Dela) and Nate York (Sir Fice) are moving forward with the current tide of the electronic music scene in bringing techno, tech house and minimal-heavy artists.
"We feel this type of music is so significant to the rounding of Milwaukee's EDM scene that artists like this are important to expose here," says Projekt co-organizer Valerine. "We've been fortunate to gain quite a few nods from the national and, in some cases, international techno community over the last eight months for what we're doing here in the Mil."
Inhale deeply on Friday, Aug. 29 at Six Degrees. With an opening showcase by Projekt residents Dela, Fortune, Screendoor and Sir Fice. Music 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. No cover charge.